Project Overview
The goal of the project was to record and provide an evaluative context for
mid-20th-century resort houses in Eastham. The Town of Eastham is a small
municipality located between Orleans and Wellfleet at the southern part of the
upper arm of Cape Cod. The Cape Cod National Seashore occupies the ocean
side of the town and represents approximately one-third of its land mass. Like
many Cape Cod towns, Eastham is densely developed with small summer
cottages, cabin colonies, and retirement homes, most of which were
constructed in the last seventy-five years on tiny lots and narrow dirt lanes on
abandoned farms and in the scrub forest on the bay side of the peninsula.
This period of radical development and transformation has only recently been
viewed as historic, but the small-scale, modest architecture it has produced is
still considered by many property owners as disposable. Nearly all of the
available land has been built out. New construction projects in recent years
have usually required the demolition of existing houses. By the account of the
town planner, ten to twelve applications for demolition permits are received
each month. The town has recently enacted a demolition delay ordinance as a
safety net for old buildings; however, a more explicit preservation strategy is
needed. This survey provides an overview of the history of 20th-century
residential development in Eastham and documents approximately 250
vulnerable resources. In the process a rough typology of 20th-century resort
architecture has been identified.
Two large areas were selected because they contained the majority of
properties on the townâs survey wish-list. One area is concentrated around
Camp Ground Road, which contains properties ranging from the early 19thcentury
agricultural period of the town to the Post-WWII-era resort period. For
Larson Fisher Associates, P.O. Box 1394, Woodstock NY Page 2
a portion of this time, as the name of the road implies, this area was the
location of a Methodist Campground. The other area has Kingsbury Beach Road
as an axis. This area contains a particularly dense and diverse concentration of
houses. Both areas include large subdivisions of summer cottages built near
Cape Cod Bay.
Within these areas, component properties were classified by type, design,
period and other factors to create a catalog of house forms and styles that
characterize the 20th-century development in Eastham. Four additional
properties outside the two areas were selected for the property type they
represent (e.g. ocean-side houses, hunting camps, camp colonies), their
uniqueness, or those considered threatened.

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